Semiconductor Diodes

Abstract

Semiconductor diodes must be considered as one of the principal building block components for all electronic systems, and can now be found in virtually all modern electronic equipment. Their range of usage is vast and diodes can be, and are, used in all of the following applications:

• 1. Rectifiers in power supplies. (This could be considered as the basic application, that of conversion of an a.c. waveform to a d.c. voltage signal).

• 2. Detectors for the information contained in amplitude modulated high frequency signals in radio circuitry.

• 3. Logic performing elements in digital circuits.

• 4. Voltage clamping elements in switching circuits.

• 5. Protective devices in relay circuits.

• 6. Current variable resistors and voltage variable capacitors.

• 7. Bias stabilising and temperature compensating elements in a wide range of circuits.

• 8. Logarithmic conversion.